Private Parking Companies.....

[STEVE5M]

I had an unexpected letter from Civil Enforcement Ltd this morning. It relates to a claim from at least 5 years ago. At the time I was the registered keeper but not the offending driver. I ignored the letters and forgot all about it.

This morning's letter is a 'LETTER BEFORE ACTION' and includes Draft Particulars of Claim and a summary of Parking Eye v Beavis.

I've had two of these parking invoices in the past and I'm sure others will have had two or more. If they can come after us for ALL old invoices this could be a game-changer!

Interesting times ahead...

They want £125 in 7 days or it's small-claims court (they say!) and the same amount plus court and legal costs.

I reckon they are fishing with these old claims. New claims, yes, you have to pay but old one's? There is a principle in law that you must take action when you are aware of something. You can't wait 5 years and then decide to make a claim. I expect they are hoping that people will get scared and pay up.

Vealie.

[Marlow Sud]

Hi Vealie,
I had a letter from parking enforcement saying exactly the same.
It refers to a parking charge notice I have not received.
Brgds
Simon

[Marlow Sud]

Hi Vealie,

The advice i have seen online is to ignore it.

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk ... -turn.html

brgds
simon

[KevJTD]

send them a letter back saying ...

this first correspondence is free to yourself.
as there is no case to answer, any further correspondence will be chargeable for my time as per my legal companies fees of £150 per hours work.
if you intend to follow up with this fruitless venture then please confirm that you accept my terms of business and who will be paying for my invoice, or I will see you in the claims courts for my time you are wasting.



wonder if they'll drop it

[PETROLHEAD]

Soooo many scams and claimants these day's eh, its becoming almost a virtual world there's so much fake and falsification out there, its scarey!

I've recently learnt that most parking charges unless directly from local council, are largely unenforceable and at times illegal!

[STEVE5M]

For all interested parties.....

I've now done my homework and it seems that since the landmark Beavis v Parking Eye case last month you cannot just ignore these claims. However, this is clearly a fishing expedition by CEL and they have dredged up every old claim that was originally ignored and sent a mass mailing to the registered keepers. They anticipate* that many will pay up straight away and any who ignore this latest scam may be worth taking to court and getting judgement by default.

The moneysavingexpert website suggest the response below for the actual letter that I and Simon received. They think that simply by sending this response you could get dropped from the hit-list because it will cost them good money to proceed.

Hope this helps, Simon. btw I have followed your season on this forum and really enjoyed the videos and posts!

Ciao, Steve

*my opinion only


====================
Dear CEL
Re PCN
Date xxx

I have received your letter before action and this is my initial acknowledgment .
1. I am the registered keeper of vehicle xxxxx but was not the driver during your supposed parking infraction .
As you have failed to meet the strict requirements of schedule 4 of POFA and deliver a valid notice to keeper within the prescribed timescale I cannot be held liable for this charge . I suggest you take the matter up with the driver who I am under no obligation to name . My refusal to do so does not alter the fact that I am not liable . I require you to explain how you think I am .
2.I require you to explain how the sum now being demanded is different to your original demand and how this far exceeded your trade association's maximum prescribed by their code of practice to which you were required to adhere .Please provide evidence of how these damages were calculated .
3. I require you to justify the £40 of costs in addition to the new sum of £85 being claimed .
4. Please direct me to information to identify the body described within your draft particulars of claim as the British Parking Authority . I am unaware of such a body .
5. Please provide an unredacted copy of the contract with the landowner that gives you the authority to both issue parking charges and litigate in your own name .
6. To keep costs from escalating for all parties I suggest you issue me with a POPLA code so that we utilise the services of an industry specific ADR process . There is no reason that you cannot do this .

I await your response to the above points in this acknowledment which I expect within 14 days. I will then provide you with my full and final reply as required by the Practice Direction on pre action conduct and I would wish to remind you of your duties under it

Alternatively you can cancel your demand .

Yours

[STEVE5M]

send them a letter back saying ...

this first correspondence is free to yourself.
as there is no case to answer, any further correspondence will be chargeable for my time as per my legal companies fees of £150 per hours work.
if you intend to follow up with this fruitless venture then please confirm that you accept my terms of business and who will be paying for my invoice, or I will see you in the claims courts for my time you are wasting.



wonder if they'll drop it

Kev, I'll give you a shout when I know my court date

That looks like a winning argument

[Marlow Sud]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Really helpful. I won't ignore it.

Brgds,
Simon

[KevJTD]

send them a letter back saying ...

this first correspondence is free to yourself.
as there is no case to answer, any further correspondence will be chargeable for my time as per my legal companies fees of £150 per hours work.
if you intend to follow up with this fruitless venture then please confirm that you accept my terms of business and who will be paying for my invoice, or I will see you in the claims courts for my time you are wasting.



wonder if they'll drop it

Kev, I'll give you a shout when I know my court date

That looks like a winning argument

wasn't my idea, knew i'd heard it somewhere before on the news.

this guy got fed up with the telemarketing phone calls and charged them £10 per ten minutes of his time they were wasting...and won In court!

http://gawker.com/5955889/harassed-by-u ... g-his-time